


Stand up Summer

by Terra_Ravin



Category: Free Write - Fandom
Genre: Bully, Camping, Gen, Minor Character Death, Slight dramatization, Summer, True story different names, Work, comeuppance, parks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-23 17:19:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19705942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Terra_Ravin/pseuds/Terra_Ravin
Summary: What happens when you go against a man who hates women because his wife left him for another woman? Death, lawsuits and tears.





	Stand up Summer

When Terra looked back at her life at all the things she has done and all the people she has met, she remembered one man named Chase best of all; his big, barrel-chested figure; his cold, calculating eyes; his short grey buzz cut hair. If that wasn’t intimidating enough, he was an ex-military man, trained to hurt in many different ways.

The mere thought of him was enough to make anyone uncomfortable.

Looking back Terra should have seen the signs that she and Chase would have trouble. There had been enough gossip and her dad had expressed concern about her being hired at that particular park. And right from the first day Chase seemed pretty unapproachable. But Terra was thrilled to have her first real grown-up job, and wasn’t going to let anything spoil the excitement. It was only later on that she found out that Chase hadn’t liked her even before her first day - and discovered the depressing truth about why he didn’t like her.

She was a girl.

Star Falls Campground, a large campground situated in a coastal forest with 182 camping sites and about 5 km of hiking trail, was heavily covered with trees, which was okay since they were mostly fir. Though when they lose their needles it was a pain to rake up.

As for the animals, quite a few birds around, deer, squirrels, mice, bears, cougars and other things around. Most of which were harmless unless provoked by campers. The ones people were warned about the most were the squirrels because they were mostly the black ones and they threw green pine or fur cones at you just for fun.

Day one. Terra had her nose pressed to the window of her dads car anxiety coercing through her the closer they got to the compound. Ok keep calm Terra. You want to give a good first impression on your fist day of, oh my gosh is that a squirrel!? Terra stared at a great fir tree best she could trying to see the squirrel run up it.

When they got to the compound Terra practically bounced from her dad, Leon’s car outside the staff office at Star Falls Campground, her blond shoulder length hair brushing against the collar of her light blue button-up park shirt as she moved. She smoothed down a wrinkle in her dark blue shorts. “Thanks for the ride dad, love ya!” Terra called over her shoulder. She paused at the office door and stared down at her sneakers. She took a deep breath before opening the door. This is going to be the best summer ever. She thought to herself.

Little did Terra know that the best summer would turn into the worst summer ever. And it would all start with one little question; a question which got a result that gave a whole new meaning to the definition of what a jerk really was.

A man with short brown hair, wearing an outrageous Hawaiian flower-print shirt and tan shorts walked towards her, his sandaled feet slapping against the concrete floor. “You must be Terra. I’m Jake. Welcome.”

Jake handed her a clipboard. “Okay. Here’s what you have to do first. You will do the morning round. You come into the office; the code is 57801 for the door. You can set your things down in this cupboard.” Jake motioned toward a blue cupboard. “Grab your keys off the hook to the left side of the door here.”

Terra stared at Jake. Is he really going to explain all the little details of this to me?

Half an hour later Terra’s eyes were twitching, Yep. He seriously did it… He explained EVERY detail to me.

Jake smiled, “Understand? Course you do! Here’s the radio. Call if you need anything.” 

Terra checked her basic daily list of jobs. They were simple things; garbage-picking the trails; recycling; campsites; and pit toilets, labeled as pits on the list; her smile faded a bit but nonetheless she hopped right onto getting the list done.

At coffee break time Terra stared at the list. She smiled broadly. She was more than half done. “Oh no”, she groaned. “Not pits.” She rubbed her eyes, willing it to be a mistake or a typo or anything, but no; there it was in black and white. PITS. She grimaced as she made her way to the first set of pits. “Uugh, this won’t be fun…” She muttered under her breath.

Terra stepped through the open door then immediately gagged, covered her nose and bolted out of the pits. “Uugh, when was the last time these pits were properly cleaned?! Okay Terra get back in there and get it clean.” Terra held her breath and entered again. She wiped down the walls, throne, and dispensers with the cleaning solution and paper towels. She even went so far as to sweep the walls and floors to get rid of cobwebs, dirt, and leaves.

As she stood back to admire her work the hairs on the back of her neck prickled. A shadow was cast over her. “Hey slacker. You can't take a break now; you still have nine more pits to do!”

Terra jumped and spun around, facing the chest of... well... she didn’t know who she was staring at. “Sir, I assure you I am doing my job so if -”

“I’m Chase; the security of this campground and your superior.” He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. “Now get busy and quit slacking.”

Terra gulped as she stared up. This Chase fellow didn’t like her. And she had a feeling he was going to make her life hell.

Jake appeared to like her tho. He would always greet her in the mornings, “Morning Terra, I expect the park to look like how your dad keeps it today!” Now to most that wouldn’t sound encouraging, but to Terra it was, because she knew he wasn’t one to give out a flat out compliment. Jake referring to how her dad keeps his park was the biggest compliment ever because her dad kept Little Spirit Falls immaculate every day that he was working.

Over the next few weeks Jake told her she was doing very well. She smiled brightly at him whenever he was around because he was so nice, even though she was learning slowly. “You work almost as well as your dad at Little Spirit Falls,” he said. Terra was very proud. That was really saying something, seeing as Leon had VERY high standards when it came to the maintenance of his park.

Yet Chase kept saying she was not working hard enough, and often said mean things like, “All the staff think you don’t work well,” or, “We get constant complaints that things are not done right on days when it’s just you working. “ Terra found herself dreading going to the job she once loved and feeling sick when she got there.

“No, yes, no, yes.” This was a common argument she had with herself on her way to work every day. “Come on Terra. Stop being a big baby. No! He’s mean and he hates me!! He’s just going to say mean things to me again!”

Terra rested her hands to the side of her head. “Just go to work, keep your mouth shut and it will all be over in eight hours.” That was how all of Terra’s arguments with herself ended.

A few weeks into her job Terra found out just how much Jake liked her. She had one of her space-out incidents while driving the Gator on her usual morning rounds. Unfortunately she was on the narrowest path on her route.

CRASH!!

“Whoah?! What the hell?!” Terra yelped. The whole Gator shook.

She gripped the wheel. “What happened? It’s a, tree?! Oh god, oh god, oh god! Jake and Chase are going to kill me!” Panicky and dazed she shut the Gator off and slumped over the steering wheel.

A woman camping nearby heard the sound and ran over, “Are you alright miss?!” The woman called worriedly as she approached Terra.

Terra raised her head, “Yeah, I think so. Don’t think I can say the same for the Gator though.” She smiled, trying to be cheerful.

“My husband’s a mechanic. I’ll ask him to come over and take a look. Stay here until I can make sure you are not hurt.”

While her husband was giving the Gator a look over, the woman checked Terra out.

“Well you seem fine, but I want you to just sit for ten minutes or so when you get back to your office, Maybe call your doctor to get a checkup. Be careful, alright?”

“Yeah, alright...thanks... I will”

Back at the office, Terra sank into the chair and cried before calling her dad.

The phone rang once, twice, three times, “Hello?” he said in confusion.

Terra calmed slightly hearing her dad's voice. “Daddy, I-it’s me. I kinda… I kinda hit the tree with the Gator... “Even though she knew he couldn't see her she looked down, ashamed at what she had done. His response shocked her. I-is he, laughing?!

Terra stared at the desk wide eyed hearing her father's laughter coming in a seemingly endless stream. ”Dad! What are you thinking! This is a serious matter - not one to laugh at.”

Leon took several deep breaths. “Okay Terra,” he said calmly. I want you to just relax for ten minutes, have something to eat and call me back. Don’t worry about this too much Terra. Everybody crashes one of the golf carts at least once.”

Well, when Terra confessed that she had crashed the Gator, Chase said she bent the axle, dented it and scratched the paint badly among other things. “That girl is a menace!” he shouted. “She should be fired for damaging an expensive piece of equipment!”

Chase glared when Jake gave the simplest answer possible.

“No.”

Her boss Jake - gotta love him - went to the mat for her. It turned out she didn’t hit the tree as hard as she thought - just enough to shock her and MAYBE scratch the paint a little. Jake arranged for the Gator to be taken to Little Spirit Falls, and brought in a small battery-powered golf cart for her to use. Her dad immediately looked the Gator over when it got there. He said it was old damage and if she had scratched it, it wouldn't have been that big a scratch.

For the next few weeks Terra kept quiet and did her job, trying to stay away from Night.

And then… on Family Day weekend, it went from ugly to deadly.

Terra was nearing the end of her when a camper approached her. “Scuse me ma’am? You work for Star Falls, right?” The woman shuffled her feet uneasily.

“Yes, what can I help you with?” Terra gave her a bright smile.

“Well you see… I have a heart condition and...” The woman looked down. “Can you leave the front gate dummy- locked for us so that if there's a problem we can call an ambulance?”

“Well I can't authorise that. But if you give me your name and site number I will let Chase the night security guard know.” Terra pulled her notebook from her pocket and nodded to the woman.

”My name is Graci Denmul. Site number sixty seven.”

Terra wrote that down. “Alright, Graci. You have a nice evening.” Terra waved before she slipped her notebook into her pocket and hopped into the golf cart to go to the compound.

Terra spotted Chase heading into the office when she got there and called out, “Chase! Chase! Yoo hoo!!” Chase glared at her, irritated.

“What do you want Terra?” Terra was confused at the venomous tone in his voice, but brushed it off.

Chase is probably just super tired, she thought. “Chase, there's a woman by the name of Graci Denmul in site sixty-seven with a heart problem. Can you leave the gates dummy-locked so that if there is an issue the ambulance can get in?”

Chase just walked away from her.

Terra shrugged and wrote down in her notebook and the staff log book that she had informed Chase about Graci’s heart.

When Leon and Terra got to work the next day, they looked shocked to see police cars and ambulances sitting - sitting at a CLOSED gate. Leon jumped out of the car. “What’s going on here?” he asked. Terra followed him, worried.

“We received a call an hour ago from Paul Denmul that his wife was having a heart attack,” said the ambulance driver. “He told us the gates weren’t locked so we could just come in. The gates are locked and we can’t reach anyone at the park office. We sent the paramedic ahead, but we can’t get in.”

Terra turned pale and ran towards the gate, the key already in hand. “Get in your vehicles; the gate’s opening in a moment!” Within seconds she was pushing the heavy gate open to let them in.

Terra grabbed her key from the lock and ran towards her dad’s car. “Quick dad - to site sixty-seven! We have to get to Graci!!!” 

When Terra and her dad got to the site, the paramedics were trying to revive Graci, but she could tell that it was too late and Graci was gone. Terra turned and began to sob on her dad’s chest. 

A police officer went over to her, “Miss, do you know what happened here? Mr. Denmul says his wife asked you to keep the gate unlocked. But when we got here it was not.”.

Terra looked at the officer. “A-are you...are you accusing… me of locking the gate?! Of hurting… Graci... ” 

“No, we just need to ask you some questions. We’re trying to find out what happened here.”

Terra, hearing the familiar sound of Jake’s micro minivan, stumbled blindly towards Jake. “Gate…” she hiccuped. “Graci… dead. Chase... Oh Jake,” she cried as she rubbed her eyes free of tears.

Before Jake could reply, Chase drove up in his beat-up red truck.

“I was in the office doing paperwork and I heard the sirens. What’s all the commotion?” he asked.

“There’s been a death,” said Leon, nodding his head towards Paul Denmul, sitting alone at the picnic table, crying.

Jake walked over to the police officer to find out what was going on.

Leon put his arm around Terra protectively. “You little fool,” Chase hissed. “This is all your fault.”

“I told you last night that the gates had to be left unlocked. Graci’s dead and it’s all your fault!” she screamed.

“Beep beep.”

Terra turned to the sound of another car edging cautiously forward. Hank and Lily got out. Jake went over to greet them. “Thanks for coming in on your day off,” he said. “Just carry on with the normal routine. If any of the campers have any questions, just tell them you’re not allowed to comment. Chase, I need to have a few words with you in the office. Leon, please stay with Terra. Terra, you can come up to the office in about fifteen minutes.” 

Fifteen minutes later Terra and Leon were outside the office. Chase was ranting. “It’s all Terra’s fault,” Chase exclaimed. “She didn’t tell me to leave the gate unlocked. If I had known I would have left it unlocked. She needs to be fired immediately. This mistake costed someone her life. I told you when she first came on that something like this would happen, but no, she’s the daughter of your best worker. She can’t mess up. She...

“That’s a lie and you know it Chase!” Terra stormed into the office, with Leon trying to hold her back. “I told you that Graci had a heart condition and the gate had to be kept unlocked so an ambulance could get in. I even have it written it in my notebook and the log book!” She handed her notebook to Jake and picked up the logbook from the desk. She quickly flipped to yesterday’s bookmarked page and gasped. The page was gone. “Where’s my entry?” she shouted. “It’s not here. I wrote the entry yesterday. Look - you can see the jagged edge where the page was torn out.”

Jake looked at her, smiling reassuringly. “Go home Terra. It’s been a hard day for you. We will sort this out. Don’t worry about it. Chase, stay away from Terra until this all over. ” 

Terr nodded as she walked slowly to the door, dragging her feet like bricks.

Over the next week the staff at Star Falls were quiet and gloomy. Everywhere they turned they were reminded of the death of Graci. The investigation seemed to be going on forever. Chase, while respecting Jake’s instructions, stayed away from Terra, but every time Terra turned around Chase was watching her from a distant. It made Terra feel uneasy knowing he was always there.

Terra had waited all summer for her grandparents to visit and tomorrow was that day.

She wanted the park to be perfect. So she worked her hardest all day to make it just right.

When her Grandparents arrived the next day she proudly showed them around the park. She glowed with pride when they praised her park.

“Looks great sweetie,” said Grandma. “The park is amazing. Grandpa, hasn’t Terra done a good job keeping it nice and clean?”

“Sure has,” said Grandpa.

That night Terra enjoyed staying with her grandparents in their motorhome. She told them all about Graci and everything that had been going on over the summer. 

“What! I can’t believe that anyone would treat you like that! What a bully!”

“Grandma, I don’t want you throwing any shoes at Chase.You’re going to get kicked out of the park,” said Terra. “And me fired,” she muttered under her breath. Her grandparents were shocked hearing how Chase had been treating their granddaughter. Terra woke earlier than usual the next morning so she could have breakfast with her grandparents before she went to open the front gate. 

As Terra went about her work she started thinking about the last, and in fact the whole summer. A thought crossed her mind. Why is Chase such a jerk to me all the time?

And so began the battle that had been brewing all summer.

Round 1 went to Chase. She went to the compound, the Staff Only area where they kept all the vehicles and tools and stuff to confront Chase, and asked, “Why don’t you like me?”

Chase sneered, “You’re lazy, you don’t do anything right, and you refuse to listen.”

Terra was stunned. She opened her mouth to speak. “Shut up,” he said cruelly. “You talk too much. Get out.” He reached around her and grabbed the door handle. Terra trembled in fear, terrified that Chase was going to smack her. He was a BIG guy! One flick could seriously hurt her. All around, he was bigger, stronger, and definitely scarier than Terra was. She left that compound in tears!

Terra jumped in the golf cart and sped back to her grandparents’ campsite.

“I can’t do it anymore!! I’m DONE! Chase is just too much for me. He wins!”

Her Grandmother said, “You have to go back honey. You can’t just let him scare you off. You can’t let it end like this. You’ll never forgive yourself if you just run away. You have to stand up to him.”

Terra was terrified.

“Grandpa, go back with Terra,” said Grandma. “Just be there for her support.”

Round two was a draw. Terra went back to talk to Chase. When he saw her coming with Grandpa he went into his trailer and blasted his TV to drown her out. “Grandpa, look. He’s hiding from me like a scared little child. Chase come out here! Chase?!” He continued with his adult version of a three year old’s, ‘Lalala I can’t hear you.’ “Chase if you don’t stop harassing me, I am going to call Employment Standards on you!” The TV got louder. “Come on Grandpa. Let’s go get counsel from ‘The Boss”. Defeated, Terra and Grandpa left.  
When Terra came back to the campsite she simply said to Grandma, “He ignored me. Went into his trailer and turned the TV up.”

Grandma laughed, “Ya got him on the run! Go back and get him! He’s scared of you. Make him sorry he bullied you.” Grandma made her go back yet again.

It wasn’t until weeks later that Terra found out that tattletale Chase had called the boss to complain that Terra was disrespectful, rude, and uncooperative. 

Round three went to Terra. She went back to phone Jake from the office. Chase was about to close the gate when she and her grandpa came back.

“This is my home,” said Chase. “And it’s my off-time. I’m not on duty until tonight. Besides, you’re supposed to be staying away from me. Leave me alone.” 

“Actually,” said Terra, “It’s you who are supposed to be staying away from me.” Terra turned to Grandpa with a blank face.

“Come on Grandpa. Let’s get going. Just pretend Chase isn’t there. He’s just another tree in the forest.”

Chase followed her into the office, listening in as she called Jake, interrupting in a meeting with the staff at Spirit Falls.

“Jake, I’ve had enough! I just can’t take working with Chase anymore. He has been harassing me since Day 1 and I can’t take it anymore.”

Things sure moved fast after that. Once all the dust had settled Chase was transferred to Cave Lake, where he worked as the night security guard at the caves. His boss, ex-Army Colonel Tiffany Ironside is famous for her sharp tongue and quick temper, especially when it comes to men.

At the summer wrap-up party everyone drank a toast to Chase’s transfer. Turns out a lot of the women there had been subjected to a summer with Chase and his “ungentlemanly” manners. Terra was specifically invited to come back the next year when she worked closely with the new - cute - 19 year old security guard. But that’s another story for another time 

You know, Chase might be a bully, but he taught Terra a good lesson that she’ll always remember. Even a 17 year old girl can learn to stand her ground and never give an inch to a jerk like Chase.


End file.
